“That’s privileged information,” Garrett said, only to watch his little girl release a heartfelt sigh.
“Did he tell you that he already ate all of his Easter candy?” Bailey asked as Garrett slowly, really fucking slowly, looked to his right to find his son struggling to bite back a wince.
Clearing his throat, Connor said, “I, ummm, may have accidentally finished it off last night.”
“Try last week,” Bailey said, selling her twin out.
Nodding, Garrett kept his eyes locked on his son, who at this point decided to go for a hopeful smile, and said, “Looks like the deal’s over.”
“And it looks like Mom’s about to find out that you drank the rest of the chocolate milk this morning,” Connor countered with a smug smile that quickly died away when Garrett said, “Bailey?”
With a satisfied sigh, Bailey shoved Shayne off his chair, ignored his pained grunt and moved over so that she was sitting across from her twin brother as she said, “Unless you have proof that my client drank the rest of the chocolate milk, I’m afraid that you’re going to have to keep your mouth shut or risk waking up to find me trying to smother you with a pillow again.”
“You said that was an accident!” Connor bit out with an accusing glare aimed at his twin sister.
“I. Lied,” Bailey said, earning a gasp of outrage from her twin as Garrett got to his feet with a satisfied sigh and made his way up the back stairs towards the nursery with Nicholas fast asleep in his arms.
After carefully tucking his baby boy in, Garrett kissed his small forehead before making his way back to the door and-
“Where is it?” the small woman that he adored suddenly demanded, making his lips twitch as he turned around to find her glaring up at him, but then again, that was to be expected.
“That depends,” Garrett said, leaning back against the wall as he made a show of studying his nails.
“On?” Kristen asked after a slight hesitation, knowing him well enough by now to know that she wasn’t going to like whatever he had planned.
“On whether or not you go camping with us this weekend,” he drawled, his gaze flickering to her in time to watch her release a strangled whimper.
“I would. I really would, but my religion forbids it,” Kristen said with a heartfelt sigh.
“And what religion would that be?” Garrett asked, watching as she struggled not to panic.
“The one that forbids me from going camping?” Kristen said, sounding really fucking hopeful.
“Then, I’m afraid that I can’t help you,” Garrett said, pushing away from the wall and-
“Someone needs to stay home with Nicholas,” Kristen said with a helpless shrug.
“My parents are watching him,” he reminded her, watching as her mouth worked soundlessly while she struggled to come up with something that would save her.
“Did I mention that it was against my religion?” she said, sounding really fucking hopeful.
“I believe it might have been mentioned,” Garrett said, watching as her eyes slowly narrowed on him as she debated her next move, keep trying to get out of this or...
“Here are my terms,” Kristen said, holding up a hand to stop him from saying anything until she was done. “I’ll go, but I’m staying at the hotel, I get veto powers, and if I even see a chipmunk, I’m filing for divorce.”
When he opened his mouth, she held up a single finger, letting him know that she wasn’t done yet. “And my favorite child gets to stay with me if they want,” Kristen said, making him frown.
“Which one is your favorite?” Garrett asked, only to chuckle when she said, “Whichever one is willing to stay with me.”
“I suppose we could do that,” Garrett said, not bothering to mention that he already reserved a room for her with two queen beds and a cot, knowing their children well enough to know that at least two of them would break as soon as they found out that the hotel had room service.
“Then, we have a deal,” Kristen said, gesturing for him to get on with it.
“I left the epilogue along with a box of Snoballs in your bottom desk drawer,” Garrett said, only to add, “Right side,” when she opened her mouth to ask a follow-up question.
“Is it everything that I hoped it would be?” Kristen asked as he reached over and took her hand in his.
“And more,” Garrett said, using his hold to pull her closer so that he could lean down and brush his lips against hers as he pulled her into his arms.
